How Jharkhand’s Poverty And Unemployment Fuel Human Trafficking

Dinesh Majhi, 24, resides in a Simdega district of Jharkhand hamlet with a predominance of tribal people. The seven-member family—Majhi’s parents, one brother, three sisters—has always had financial difficulties. They have a little paddy field, but it has become a problem because of the unpredictable weather in recent years. The family is now forced to rely on the government-supplied ration.

Majhi is the oldest of his siblings, but due to an ailment that has caused him to remain at home, he is unable to contribute to the family’s minimal income. Two of the sisters—Anita and Vinita—were taken to Delhi by their maternal uncle because of their dire financial situation. Anita was abducted in 2020 when she was 17 years old, and Vinita was stolen two years later when she was 15 years old. A representative received both sisters and hired them as domestic assistance.

Anita had no problems, but Vinita’s time in Delhi was a nightmare; she is already back at home. “I was treated well by the first family. I would get cash from them. But the second encounter was negative. I used to be belted by Madam. My hands have burn marks on them. I used to be required to work till three in the morning and be up by six. They destroyed my cell phone, claims Vinita.

She worked there for five months without receiving any compensation. Her screams were heard by several neighbors while she was being battered, and they called the Delhi Police, who then notified the Simdega District Collector. Anita’s rescue efforts began after the issue was brought to the attention of the State Migrant Control Room of the Jharkhand Labour Department.

Human trafficking and poverty in Jharkhand

Many Jharkhand families, like the Majhis, are compelled to take such drastic measures due to unemployment and poverty, just as bad economic circumstances caused the Majhi family to send their daughters abroad.

In Jharkhand, 42.2% of the population lives in poverty, according to the National Multidimensional Poverty Index’s inaugural edition, which was released in 2021. State comes in second place after Bihar.

In order to find job, many families are compelled to relocate. Human trafficking ends up affecting some of these families. Jharkhand is one of the top ten states in the nation, accounting for 81.4% of all incidents of human trafficking, according to the most recent data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The state’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) reports that 1,574 persons were victims of human trafficking out of the 656 instances that were reported to various police stations in Jharkhand between January 2017 and December 2022. 1,001 of the 1,473 people that were saved are female. 783 traffickers have been detained so far.

It’s interesting to note that, of the total number of girls who were rescued, 90% of them were sent to larger towns and cities to work as domestic helpers alongside their alleged traffickers only after receiving permission from their parents. This information comes from the Jharkhand Department of Women and Child Development & Social Security.

A disproportionately high number of tribal people from rural Jharkhand areas are among those who travel to other regions of the nation in search of employment.

90% of females who are victims of human trafficking are tribal women, according to a survey by the Dr. Ramdayal Munda Tribal Welfare Research Institute (TRI). The majority of the females are trafficked and taken to Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi to work as domestic assistance. In these states, placement agencies are used to sell and purchase them.

assisting those rescued from human trafficking

41 tribal girls have been saved since 2020 thanks to the State Migration Control Room of the Jharkhand Labour Department. Lilawati Oraon and Mira Kumari are two among them. These two had to leave home as minors due to unemployment and acute poverty.

 

The 24-year-old Lilawati Oraon comes from a community in the Gumla area. When she was 12 years old, she traveled to Delhi with her mother to work as a housekeeper for a friend of theirs. However, they were assigned to different houses. Oraon was forbidden from speaking with her mother. She fled and spent time in an ashram until being found in May of this year.

 

Also from a tribe, Mira Kumari, 31, is. She moved to Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, with her father when she was 13 to work in a brick kiln. She was, however, transported to Nepal through Panchkula in Haryana within a week. She was rescued from Nepal in November 2022 when the Jharkhand government learned about it.

The Jharkhandi children who are employed around the nation received assistance from friends or family members.

Under the condition of anonymity, a Jharkhand Department of Women and Child Development & Social Security official states: “The majority of the females that are trafficked are really innocent. To leave, they are persuaded. The majority of the time, the parents are given some cash up front and told they would get payments each month, but this never occurs. The majority of these families are tribe members from impoverished backgrounds.

Police data show that between 2015 and 2022, 1,902 boys and 2,863 girls, all of whom were minors, were reported missing. 3,997 boys and girls have been saved thus far.

I have been fighting for the cause of child rights for the last 20 years, according to Baidyanath Kumar, secretary of the Child Rights Foundation, who has collaborated with around a dozen NGOs involved with the subject. The majority of the time, I’ve discovered, trafficking has taken place involving the missing children. Up till today, over 5,000 kids have been saved.

116 traffickers who were operating a network of human trafficking from Jharkhand to Delhi have been apprehended by the police thanks to Kumar. In Jharkhand, trafficking is a significant issue. The administration seems to be having little success in stopping the issue of trafficking. To address this problem, it has to create strict legislation, argues Kumar.

In Jharkhand, there are women’s support desks at 300 police stations, and there is an anti-human trafficking section in every district. The director general of Jharkhand CID, Anurag Gupta, states: “Awareness campaigns are being conducted at all levels to combat human trafficking. In Delhi and other large cities and towns, there are several employment agencies in operation. They lead girls to them from states like Jharkhand, Odisha, and Bengal, where they hire them as domestic assistance.

Gupta claims that several NGOs harass individuals under the guise of protecting children. The kids are coerced into making remarks. These individuals who rescue children and bring them home never go back or check on their welfare.